VANISHED

After Oprah selected Mary McGarry Morris's SONGS IN ORDINARY TIME for her book club, Morris's early novel, VANISHED, was reissued. A young woman named Dotty appears out of nowhere, picks up the hapless and seemingly helpless Aubrey Wallace, kidnaps (for no clear reason) an unrelated baby girl, and drags them both on a sad, drug-soaked odyssey. Dotty is soon ready to abandon the odd family she herself has created, but Wallace and the girl won't be easy to shake. Kimberley Schraf's narrative voice has a suitably gritty hard edge. But she strains when she vocalizes some of the characters, ending up with a colorless monotone for Wallace and a false, high-pitched stereotype of a child. S.P. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]